


A Matter of Time

by unlitstars



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Clocks, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Mild Reincarnation Themes, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Perhaps Fluff, Romance, references to Greek mythology
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25687891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unlitstars/pseuds/unlitstars
Summary: A gunshot, then Nakamori-keibu yelling into the open night.Another gunshot, and this time Kaito points his own towards the remaining supports.He falls and falls off the clock, one last glimpse of his soulmate clock, tick tock.He catches the bright blue eyes of someone inside the helicopter, his heart beating wildly.Another second of the ink-dark sky, and a smattering of stars, and he sees nothing but white.Tick tick.
Relationships: Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan & Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid, Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan/Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid
Comments: 5
Kudos: 63
Collections: kaishinbigbang 2020





	A Matter of Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is my piece for the [Kaishin Bigbang 2020](https://kaishinbigbang.tumblr.com/).
> 
> I had the great honour of working with [Kuroko99](https://kuroartsdotcom.tumblr.com/), who has been the single most wonderful partner I could have asked for. I, on the other hand, really sucked as a partner. I am very sorry. 
> 
> A special thank you to my beta, [script_nef](https://archiveofourown.org/users/script_nef) and [my sister](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hamster_Ninja01), for putting up with me through these months.
> 
> The other pieces done by amazing artists and writers can be found on [the blog](https://kaishinbigbang.tumblr.com/) or in [the collection](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/kaishinbigbang_2020).
> 
> Thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate in this event.

288:00:00.00 

Kaito stands on the face of the Ekoda Clock Tower, watching the clock’s hands shift beneath his shoes. _Shit_ , he thinks. 

He’s not meant to meet his soulmate today.

He grips harder onto the edge of the hour hand, heart thumping. For the first time in his life, Kaito wonders if he would fall. Slowly, he realises.

The physical hands have not moved.

He can still see the minute movements of the phantom hands, but the hands underneath his own are real. He can hear a constant tick. 

_Soulmate_ , he confirms to himself. 

He tries to tamper down the flare of panic he feels at that word. Kaito feels slightly nauseous.

The night air hums with the whirring of helicopter blades, thrumming with the thrill of the heist. It cuts through his panic long enough so he can think. He doesn’t even think he wants to think.

Firstly, he knows that there is someone else leading the Task Force tonight, someone who can match him in intelligence. They can predict his movements at a level far above Nakamori-keibu’s, and they’ve managed to almost capture him multiple times. It’ll be impressive when he isn’t about to be caught.

Second, his soulmate clock has appeared. This means that he has already interacted with his soulmate, in some way, shape or form, for a long enough period of time so that the clock appears. The theory of soulmates isn’t perfect yet, with reports of people having their clocks ticking forward even when nothing has changed. Usually the clocks only tick forward through the proximity of the soulmates to each other, when they talk, and whatever other mode of “normal” interaction there is: touching, texting, et cetera. Kaito isn’t really clear on the details.

Soulmate clocks that tick forward without any of the usual means weren’t broken—their soulmates were just interacting with them without physical means, the scientists said. There is a couple theories that he’s seen in forums and such, where people speculated that even thinking about your soulmate could make your tick forward. He doesn’t know for sure.

Kaito doesn’t think that he has interacted with anyone he hasn’t interacted with once before, which only leaves the helicopter as a possible candidate for his soulmate.

This theory is plausible, he tells himself. He’s eliminated everything else.

He tries not to think about the part where both soulmates die if the clock does a full twelve-hour rotation, over his twelve days of interaction with his soulmate. He knows that will be his ending. 

He can’t even break the rotation to save them from death.

As long as Kaito is KID, he can never tell his soulmate his full name. He will only hurt them, dooming them to certain death regardless of their soulmate clock and how much time has passed. He doesn’t see a way out.

He doesn’t—really _want_ a soulmate.

He turns away. He can’t bear to look at the clock face any longer.

The half-illusion of calm shatters when he sees Nakamori-keibu leaning out of the tower, and catching sight of him. He quickly pulls his poker face back on. 

He will never forget the next few seconds for the rest of his life.

A gunshot, then Nakamori-keibu yelling into the open night.

Another gunshot, and this time Kaito points his own towards the remaining supports.

He falls and falls off the clock, one last glimpse of his soulmate clock, tick tock.

He catches the bright blue eyes of someone inside the helicopter, his heart beating wildly.

Another second of the ink-dark sky, and a smattering of stars, and he sees nothing but white.

Tick tick.

* * *

Shinichi fumbles the key into the lock, still a bit shaky from the exhilaration of the heist. No one has ever outsmarted him like this before. 

He kind of—likes it, weirdly enough. He needs a new challenge.

Shinichi shuts the door behind himself, whispering a soft “tadaima” to the empty house. Coming back to a silent house is quite jarring, but nothing he isn’t used to.

He taps at his phone screen, scanning news articles for the name of the thief. Ekoda, clock tower, jewels—ah, there it is.

Kaitou KID, phantom thief.

He skims through the article, eyes catching on a few words. He hums, interested. 

It seems like life is about to get a lot more interesting.

He yawns, stumbling up the stairs to his room, and almost falling through his bedroom door. He’s a bit out of it, he thinks. 

He yawns again, trying to find his desk with his eyes shut. He hasn’t been sleeping terribly well recently—he’s been trying to adjust to the lack of noise again. 

He leaves his phone on his desk. He’ll investigate this phantom thief thing later. He has to sleep now, before Ran somehow finds out.

He stretches, and somehow his eyes land on his clock. It isn’t ticking.

He takes down the clock, swapping its batteries for a new set. Still nothing. 

He opens his phone, trying to gain a sense of the time. He doesn’t know why, but he feels like it’s important. He’ll leave the clock for tomorrow morning when he isn’t about to collapse.

The clock on his phone isn’t ticking either.

Suddenly, Shinichi understands. Nothing is broken. This is what he’s been waiting for all his life.

It’s his life’s greatest mystery.

He can’t see the time any more because he’s met his soulmate.

* * *

  
  


Duty is not a shackle, Kaito thinks, staring at the time. He isn’t shackled by the only thing that sets him free. He _likes_ being KID.

He doesn’t think about what he sacrificed to get here. He doesn’t think.

He thinks of his father.

He thinks of the first time his father introduced him to magic, and the passing of a secret from father to son. He thinks of all the times he was enchanted by it, like pieces pieced back with gold. He thinks of anything but what he has lost.

Aoko, he thinks.

He remembers his mother by her kindness and independence. He remembers his father by his magic tricks: simple but elaborate, half-paradigms, half-paradoxes. His father was so bright, like a diamond hanging in the sky. He was untouchable, undefeatable—

—but in this world, even stars must fall.

Or, as he learnt, some stars don’t fall. They give one final performance, and burst into a supernova. 

It was so bright.

He burnt all his cards. He didn’t want to think about magic. He didn’t want to think about what couldn’t bring his father back. He almost cut his roses down.

Years passed, and the pain dulled. He started buying cards again. He wanted to be the new star born from that supernova. 

_Duty_ , his father’s portrait whispers to him every morning. _You need to be enough to carry on my legacy_.

He practises and practises to the sound of the clock, tick tick, tock tock.

Tick, what should he sacrifice? Tock, will he ever be enough?

Does he even deserve anything?

He carries these feelings to every heist, pushing them away with the exhilaration of flight. He doesn’t want to think about anything but his duty.

Guilt is heavier than grief, he learns. Guilt is a poison that corrodes his heart, but grief is a chain that binds him to it.

He doesn’t think he deserves anything before his debt is repaid, let alone his soulmate. He doesn’t want them to be in this mess he has created for himself.

He thinks he will let them go.

* * *

A white card arrives at the police station, its grinning caricature taunting.

**Author's Note:**

> Updates will be weekly.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading. If you have the time and want to, please leave a comment on how I can improve my writing. Thank you.


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